As the new A24 disaster comedy “Y2K” arrives in theaters, I got the opportunity to participate in a virtual college press roundtable with Kyle Mooney, the director and co-writer of the film.
Kyle Mooney, born and raised in San Diego, was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2013 to 2022. Prior to that, he was part of a sketch comedy group called Good Neighbor that would upload all their videos to YouTube. Mooney also co-wrote and starred in the 2017 film Brigsby Bear. However, “Y2K” is his feature film directorial debut.
“Y2K” follows two high schoolers on the last night of 1999 at a New Years Eve party, who ultimately find themselves fighting for their lives. I found this movie to be such a blast; it’s definitely worth seeing in theaters with a crowd.
It was also very exciting to get invited to this virtual roundtable. Essentially, it was me representing The Daily Aztec alongside a group of others from various colleges. A representative from A24 was present and would call out when it was everyone’s turn to ask a question. True to my nature, I was super excited and immediately used the hand raise function on Zoom, so I got to ask the first question.
“Hey, man. So I kind of had a question, because you’re the director of this movie, but also you have a very funny supporting role acting in this movie,” I began to ask. “So I was wondering: is it easier to direct something when you’re acting in it, because you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s something we need to change. I know all the blocking, I can just adjust myself accordingly?’ Or is it harder, because it’s just like, ‘Ugh! Another job I have to worry about doing?’”
“Thanks for the question, James, and go Aztecs! My father is an alum. For me, I always like to have another pair of eyes on me. So for this project, for instance, I had my partner Evan who wrote it with me. And obviously I had our DP and a bunch of crew folks; Bill Pope shot our movie,” Mooney responded. “I think…I would not say it’s easier. I mean I sort of do, to a degree, typically when I’m working on something that I wrote…I direct myself a little bit. Like I’ll try a lot of things out. And I’ve been making videos long enough that I sort of have a pretty specific idea of the way I want my words to sound. I’m always open to direction if there is another director, but generally, I like to have somebody else out there to be like, “That was good. We got it. We feel good.” So, in this version, it was nice…because I had Evan out there to be like, “I think we got something good.” But I like being told what to do, to be honest.”
“Y2K” is now in theaters everywhere. As of right now, I have seen it twice. I think it’s hilarious, and would definitely recommend checking it out.
